Safe and Sound
by tchamblers
Summary: Following the events of episode 5X14. Tara wakes up to find that a certain someone has been tending to her wounds since she returned back to Alexandria.


Tara's eyes flickered open and her head jerked back at the brightness of the lights gleaming down at her. The whiteness of the room didn't help. For a second she thought that the whole 'End of The World' thing had been a dream, but she wasn't that lucky. Her eyes fully opened and she began to take in her surroundings, her eyesight still blurry from the many days they had been shut.

The room was white and glaring enough to be a hospital, she was sure it was definitely being used as one and then she looked down at the wires attached to her arms and realised that it could only be something of a makeshift hospital room. None of what happened was a dream, Tara realised.

Out of the corner of her vision, she noticed a gentle hand travel over to hers and hold it, feeling the softness against her own. She soon realised that the arm it was attached to was Glenn's.

"Hey, she's awake!" He called out.

A tall man walked over to her, towering above her and checking the temperature of her forehead. She tried her best not to flinch this time, and after a couple of nods between Glenn and the 'Doctor' and words whispered that she hadn't heard, he exited the room leaving them both alone now.

"What happened?" She asked, "I kind of remember, but it got dark pretty quickly."

"Aiden... he..." Glenn dragged the words out, he was clearly still affected by what had happened, only days before. "He shot at a guy with armour and hit a grenade."

"Prize for the biggest idiot goes to..." Tara joked, always trying to look for the light in a bad situation.

Glenn laughed with her but then a wave of sadness followed and this failed to go unnoticed by Tara. He shook his head trying to let it go for her sake, but she wouldn't allow it. Something in her gut knew that that wasn't the whole story and no matter how much pain she was in she would push him further until he told her.

"Tell me the rest." She added.

"Eugene. He saved you." He swallowed, pushing the sadness back, "Had this whole heroic moment going on. Shame you missed it."

"I knew he had it in him." Tara smiled, feeling a sense of pride rise up through her body and settle in her heart. She always knew that he could be brave and put away the cowardice he showed. She was thankful he did for her.

"Aiden... is dead."

"...and Noah?" Tara asked reluctantly.

Glenn said nothing, but lowered his head and pressed his lips firmly together to force himself not to cry, he could feel the tears coming to the surface. Tara could see from his expression what this meant and her face began to mirror Glenns.

"I tried... I really-"

"I know." Tara held his hand tightly. She knew that whatever happened Glenn would always go out of his way for others and that if Noah had died, he would have tried his best to save him. She didn't doubt that for a second.

The door clicked open and Maggie walked into the room, closing the door quietly behind her, currently unaware that Tara was now awake.

"Glenn." She whispered until she realised Tara's eyes were open. "Oh, you're awake!" Smiles beamed from her lips to Tara's. It was a nice change to have good news.

She walked over to her and leant her hand on Tara's head, pushing her hair out of her face.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I was worried." She admitted.

"Oh, it's just a scratch, don't worry." Tara laughed a short burst and then stopped herself to reach for her ribs that were beginning to hurt from the movement.

"Glenn, I need you for a little while." Maggie said, and Glenn nodded.

"Get some rest. I'll tell the others you're awake. Eugene's gonna be so happy." Glenn smiled and walked over to Maggie, both of them leaving the room.

Tara decided to follow Glenns advice and shut her eyes for a short while, the laughter had made her feel a little tired again and she let herself drift off to sleep, Noah's memory never leaving her mind.

When her eyes opened again, she was greeted by a womanly figure sitting beside her and a hand touching her head. This time Tara didn't flinch, instead she was captivated by the shadow and squinted her eyes until it came into focus.

"Mornin' sunshine." The woman said with a cheerful tone in her voice.

"Holly?" Tara asked.

"I know you hit your head, but you do remember me right?" Holly laughed.

"Of course, sorry. I just didn't expect- Did you say morning?" Tara cut herself off, realising that she must have rested for a lot longer than she had planned.

"Yep. You slept a good... 12 hours. I kept an eye on you."

Tara's heart skipped a beat. She wasn't sure if it was because of the body trauma or if it was from the beautiful woman tending to her wounds, but she accepted it either way. She tried to think of something smart to say, or something to make her laugh but her head felt like it had been through a wood chipper and her eyes were hazy. She had nothing.

"I've gotta change your bandage." Holly said, lifting herself up from Tara's side and walking over to get some clean dressing.

Tara felt the difference immediately, feeling the warmth float away with her. She couldn't help but allow her eyes to follow her as she moved across the room, letting her eyes drift south and catching herself just as Holly turned around. She shrugged it off and tried to play it cool, trying not to be awkward and make it seem obvious.

"I wanted to wait for you to wake up before I did this. I thought you needed to rest and it would probably wake you up if I tried." She turned back around to Tara and walked over again, a bundle of medical supplies in her hands.

"I've been here the whole time, trying to get you back to health." She confessed, smiling almost flirtatiously.

"Really?" Tara was surprised someone she didn't know would care enough to make that much of an effort.

"Yeah, I'm helping out with our resident Doctor here, you see. It's my contribution to the community. That's what I'm told anyway." Holly smiled and her eyes locked with Tara's for a brief moment until they both broke the eye contact and Holly got back to the task at hand.

"Oh! Yeah, of course." Tara smiled back, feeling slightly deflated and embarrassed for thinking she'd be sticking around for her. "Pretty sucky job then, huh?"

"It's not been so bad, I've had some lovely faces to admire." Holly winked and for a second Tara thought she was imagining it. Her smile was so big she had to bite her bottom lip to stop her from grinning like an idiot. Of course, it didn't really help. Holly could see Tara's smile beaming from ear to ear.

"Nice to see you smile. I was hoping I could maybe cheer you up when you woke." She grinned and then pursed her lips, as she, too, tried to disguise it a little. Both of them failed miserably.

"Well, uh... thank you for taking care of me." Tara mumbled through grinning teeth.

Holly didn't say a word, just stood up with the dressing in her hand and began replacing the dirty one with a fresh one. She bent down as she wrapped the last of it around her forehead and pinned it into place. Their faces were only inches apart and Tara could feel the heat from her body rising to her face and her lips start to twinge from the comfort of closeness.

Holly's eyes glanced down at Tara only for a moment, first to Tara's lips and then they met her eyes. There was a distinct tension between them, but neither of them allowed them self to move into it further.

"All done." Holly declared, clearing her throat and stepping away from Tara. "I'll come back and check on you a bit later, okay?"

"Thanks." Tara replied, as joy overwhelmed her and wonder grew evident on her face.


End file.
